Pie-loving dog starts fire after trying to steal goodies from hob

A hungry dog unwittingly started a house fire after causing a spark on a hob while trying to nab some recently-baked meat pies which had been left on top of it to cool.

The Daily Mail reported how Tia, a seven-year-old Dogue de Bordeaux, took a fancy to two corned beef pasties which her owner had left standing on the oven top.

But in her effort to reach them, the hapless hound accidentally hit one of the switches to turn on one of the rings on the hob.

This then started a fire, which soon awoke Tia's owners, Adam Spurr and Emma Llewellyn. As Emma woke the couple's two children and got them safely out of the house, Adam raced to the kitchen, where he was confronted by thick black smoke, coming from the tray on which the pies had been stood.

After getting rid of the pies, and escaping from the house, the pair called the fire brigade, while Mr Spurr also needed treatment from an ambulance crew for smoke inhalation.

He told the newspaper: "I'm really surprised Tia is still alive because the smoke in the kitchen was unbelievable," but also added: "I was gutted about my pies".

To stop a repeat of the incident, the couple have said they will take the dials off the cooker when it isn't being used.